Why you need to take your kids on the Alaska Railroad

14.12.2023 - 15:11 / lonelyplanet.com

Journeying by train through the wilds of Alaska was not something I expected to add to my 2023 gratitude list.

But it is a family adventure that will live in my memories as one of my life's most fun, important and connective experiences.

We have a family of four: Mom, Dad, Sister (9), and Brother (3). I try to parent slowly. To create spaces in our lives for play sessions that drag out until the game is long over and we’re resting in the grass. I am at my best when I can join in their curiosity, venturing with mind and body and learning new things together. 

But, like most families, that is not our everyday reality. We have jobs and hobbies, school and friends. We have bullet list schedules that barely fit in the day-by-day squares on our calendar by the fridge. Our ten days in Alaska were a long line across an empty expanse of squares — this idea of days to fill with adventures instead of must-dos excited my imagination. 

Train travel allows this space. It takes what can be stressful and hard, getting from one place to another, and turns it into relaxing, bonding and invigorating. 

So, in the fall of this year, we found ourselves on The Alaska Railroad, which celebrated its centennial year in 2023. It allows the space and time I sought for our family and a chance to journey from interior Alaska to the coast. From an Arctic desert to a rugged, wet coastline with a chance to see America’s highest peak. Fairbanks sits at 62 degrees latitude, close enough to the Arctic Circle to get there in a half-day’s drive. While Seward is firmly in the temperate rainforest; the forests dripping with mosses and the oceans teeming with wildlife.

The route from Seward to Fairbanks was completed in 1923 when President Warren Harding drove the ceremonial golden stake into the ground where the northern and southern lines come together in Nenana. While the railroad has a tumultuous history, its creation drives Alaska’s settlement and the GDP. For example, Anchorage started as a tent village for rail workers. It is now Alaska’s biggest city. The train provided then and still does transportation, mail, goods and other services to Alaska’s many dispersed communities that would otherwise be completely isolated.

The train is owned and operated by the State of Alaska, which means it considers its best uses for the state's people first. My favorite feature of the Alaska Railroad is that it will stop when flagged down. Locals living off-grid along the train line can flag down the train when needed and often do. Look for plastic chairs and camps along the railroad tracks. Many of them with flags. These are called whistle stops.

But for the traveler, a trip on the Alaska Railroad offers unparalleled views while you relax and let someone